1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for operating shopping baskets, each basket having an accounting function, and more particularly to a system which dispenses with cashiers' confirming articles which are put into such a shopping basket by a shopper.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Usually, a shopper puts articles into a shopping basket when it has an accounting function. The articles are scanned and registered by a bar code reader of an accounting section, and are then received in the shopping basket. A total amount of the articles is displayed by the accounting section. Thus, the shopper pays at a cashier's counter his or her bill displayed by the accounting section. In such a case, the cashier takes out the articles from the shopping basket and reads them using a scanner, thereby confirming the total amount of purchases (sales from the viewpoint of a shop owner) read by an identification code reader of the shopping basket. Such a system is disclosed in (A) Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 63-149,791. (B) Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publications No. Hei 3-073,093 and No. Hei 3-073,094 disclose systems in which a weight of an article actually registered by the accounting section and put into such a shopping basket is compared with a weight calculated on the basis of an identification code assigned to the article, thereby checking the credibility of the amount displayed the shopping basket. Further, (C) Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 63-223,998 exemplifies a system in which a color of a bar code label on each article is changed after the article is scanned, and the cashier visually checks all the color-changed labels on the articles. Still further, (D) Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 2-238,594 discloses a system in which magnetic seals on articles are magnetized when they are scanned, and the cashier electrically checks whether the articles selected by the shopper carry the magnetized seals.
The foregoing shopping baskets with the accounting function are prone to the following problems. For instance, an inlet of the shopping basket usually remains open so that the shopper can put in or retrieve articles without their identification codes being read. Some articles may not be registered, due to the shopper's carelessness, or because of wilful action on the part of the shopper. Therefore, the amount displayed by the accounting section of the shopping basket does not always coincide precisely with the amount of the articles actually present in the shopping basket. To overcome this problem, it is necessary for the cashier to check the displayed amount with respect to the articles present in the shopping basket as disclosed in the foregoing publications. This means that in spite of a large investment to provide the shopping baskets with the accounting function, it is still necessary to have the cashiers check the amount as with ordinary shopping baskets without the accounting function, and cost and labor saving cannot be accomplished. With the publication (A), the shopper has to wait until his or her articles are checked by the cashier. In the case of the publication (B), the displayed amount may often be incorrect since there are a variety of articles whose weights are the same but which have different prices. With respect to the publication (C), since the scanned bar code labels change their original colors, not only it is difficult for the shopper to return his or her undesired articles but it also takes time for the cashier to visually check the selected articles, which means the shopper must wait at the cashier's counter. With the publication (D), the shopper has to wait at the counter because the cashier electrically checks the magnetized state of the labels of the selected articles.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a system for operating shopping baskets with the accounting function so as to overcome the foregoing problems of the prior art. Such a system does not necessitate the cashiers' confirming the amount displayed by the accounting section with the actual amount of the selected articles.